The Missouri Coalition for the Environment is one of several groups filing suit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to try to get the agency to address the long-term storage of nuclear waste.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has put a freeze on issuing licenses for new plants and 20-year renewals for existing ones following a ruling by a federal Appeals Court.

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in June that the practice of allowing nuclear plants to store spent fuel rods on site doesn’t meet federal environmental standards. The decision in essence bars the awarding of any new licenses until the industry begins addressing the problem of storing nuclear waste.

Gov. Jay Nixon and University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe will join utility executives and business leaders at an event designed to boost support for building small modular nuclear reactors in the state.

The event Monday on the Columbia campus is billed as an economic development summit, while officials await word on a U.S. Department of Energy grant application.

Westinghouse Electric Co. and Ameren Missouri are competing for a share of the $452 million the energy department has set aside for the new technology.